GRITtv on Atlanta’s Public Housing Crisis

Tens of thousands showed up for 62 openings on the housing waiting list.

By Kai Wright Aug 17, 2010

Last week, more than 30,000 people showed up in East Point, Ga., just outside of Atlanta, when the public housing authority opened its waiting list. The authority had only 62 vouchers available. The incident, which generated Katrina-style images of black people desperately waiting for help that isn’t coming, was striking but not rare. Cities nationwide have long maintained years-long waiting lists for public housing. Whenever those lists are opened to new applicants, tens of thousands apply. I joined a conversation about public housing on GRITtv yesterday. Check it out in the video above.